Expecting Moms!

We've bred two of our gals for litters this last week so they will be due Jan 8th and 13th if they did catch! We're going to breed a couple more does with the next week or so but have been trying to hold off breeding till we get everyone settled into the new bunny barn. Speaking of which - we've been painting! The insides walls and roof are just about all painted and we picked up some sheeting to put on top of the planks for the floor. I think we'll put a piece of lino down on top of that as I LOVE having things are clean, neat and organized - anything that makes that easier is a good way to go!

Anyways here's the two crossings that we did!

SLR's Thumper Black Sr buck- 2 GC legs x

SLR's Anna Prim Rose - 1 GC leg - Tort SR Doe, this is of course her junior photo! I hadn't realized that I don't have a SR photo of her yet.

SLR's Aiden Black/orange harlequin SR buck x

Cutie Patootie's T'fer Tigger Black/orange harlequin SR Doe

A Beautiful Black Doe

This is the sibling to the little harli that we posted awhile back. She's now regrown her fur on her face and looks like a darling doe again! She does have a SUPER thick coat especially around her bum that makes her look a little bit funny but everyone has a bad hair day now and then right? She's an adorable little gal looking for the perfect name! Plus we plan to bring her along to the Wetaskiwin show in Feb to see how she does! She's still a junior now but I think she'll be a senior by then - I'll have to count the days! She is a beautifully put together doe with a nice head/ear piece and is WIDE - this will be a repeat breeding as I wouldn't mind having a barn full of bunnies that looked exactly like her = )

Anyways here is our beautiful doe - any suggestions on a name then let me know!

The New Barn

Here are a few photos of the work on the new bunny barn! It's 32 x 12 feet with an inside part and outside runs for them as well. Everything is on a skid so we can move the barn around the farm as needed. We picked up some sky light tin, the door and a window this week that we need to build the final wall and have been working today to cut all the tin and get it put on so we can start using the new barn before Christmas. It'll be an early Christmas present to the bunnies!

The work on the new bunny barn continues. . .

As I write this post the guys are working on welding the pipe braces for the roof onto the piece of pipe on the ground that works as a skid so we can move this barn around. The insulated part has the floor done, walls framed and next is the roof then we can insulate and do a little painting!

The weather has been beautiful here even though there's snow on the ground the temperatures have been staying well above zero so the bunnies have been enjoying the fall!

We'll post some photos of the barn once we get the roof started - stay tuned for those!

SLR's Riley - You win some but you loose some too

This little cutie is SLR's Riley born this summer out of SLR's Chambler and SLR's Dream. He was my pick of the litter buck from this broken x broken breeding(I was wanting a charlie tri buck to use on the harlequin does). He was the sweetest little dude who already LOVED his head & cheek rubs not to mention he was good looking too!

Unfortunetly we lost this little guy today due to intestinal issues. Three days ago now I noticed that he wasn't feeling well so we brought him inside to do a physical exam and we found that he had an impacted intestine. Right away treatment was started and he spent two days at the vet clinic but sadly the impaction was just too great to pass causing a perforated intestine so he lost his fight. We are so sad that this beautiful little guys is gone. Days like this make having rabbits hard but we push through because the other happy excited faces still need their love too. We still have his sister, SLR's Saffir so we feel like we still have a part of him here.

Snow!

We've had the first significant snowfall of the season so we're working extra time to get the bunny barn all insulated and ready for when it gets cold. We took some outside photos this morning so I'll post them below - snow is SO beautiful!

We also don't have any rabbits available at the moment and won't have anything available until we neuter a couple boys and they are recovered so looking for new homes! We do strongly suggest that if you are looking for a pet rabbit to check out your local SPCA to see what they have available. The last time I had a peak they had quite the selection to pick out your new friend from.

A Keeper!

This little doe has got to be one of the nicest does that has been born here to date! We took some photos of her today that we'll share with you but didn't get any photos of her twin looking black sister. This little harli was a bad gal and plucked her sisters face bald so we're waiting for it to grow back in before taking some photos.

This harli was born on July 31/14 so that makes her 2.5 months old(completely in her uglies for my guys) and this is what she looks like! She is out of SLR's Thumper and SLR's AnnaPrimRose. She is super wide and deep with massive bone and a big chunky head and yes this is a girl! Her black sister is basically the exact same looking except for color - we'll try to show her this fall and we're certainly going to be repeating this breeding! Anyways here's her photos - it's not the best lighting but it gives you a good idea of what she looks like!

A Qucik Update

Winter is coming! We've been working around the clock to get the new bunny barn insulated and mouse proof before the snow flies. So far the guys have got the skid welded together and the floor built for the insulated inside part. We'll take some photos soon of the progress but we're super excited about getting them all settled in for the winter. The inside part is a 12 x 12 and the outside play area is a 12 x 18 place for them to run around and be a bunny. We'll split this outside area up a bit so we can put a few bucks out at a time plus the girls. Our gals always get turned out all together unless they have litters or other reasons why they can't play. They all get along well and seem to really enjoy to company of running around with other bunnies.

We'll also have a few bucks available this fall, some of which we may neuter and then they would be looking for a pet home of course. We've bred our old chestnut buck to our new to us doe Tigger today and will probably breed a few more does before the temperatures start to drop. We also have two does that we've kept back out of SLR's Anna and SLR's Thumper whci are the best bodied does that I have felt in a LONG time! They are both gorgeous gals and with one being a harlequin, well we're pretty happy to say the least! I'll try to get photos of them shortly. Until then enjoy the beautiful fall!

GC SLR's Sakari, my all time favorite black/orange tri color doe!

A Special Note on Some Sad News

I'm sure that many of you have heard of the rabbit seizure in Calgary two weeks ago now from a fellow breeders place. Although this is sad news all around the point of this post is not to gossip or bring more negativity to an already unfortunate circumstance but to shed some light on why us "rabbit breeders" do what we do.

The simple answer to that is the same as in pet owners and that is to love. As a breeder I love seeing my rabbits every day and watching them grow from babies, to juniors to adults to seniors. I love spending time with them and meeting new people by providing a lifetime pet, brood or show animal. The purpose to my small scale breeding program is focused on producing show quality animals as per the ARBA standard of perfection. Please go to www.arba.net and www.hlrsc.com for more information on this aspect of rabbits. Other breeders raise animals for meat or fiber as well as show and pet. I love having people over and them interacting with my animals to see their faces light up, the joy on a child's face when a baby bunny licks them is indescribable.

Many folk seem to lump all of us breeders in the same corner and say that we are raising these beautiful animals for profit which is utterly untrue in my case. It costs me money to keep my animals the same as it does a pet owner to keep their rabbit. We are not backyard breeders producing mass amounts of animals and selling them on the side of the road to who ever wants to impulse purchase a pet that will most certainly out live their impulse "but he's so cute factor". Here's a quick but very accurate profit vs. expenses since January 2014. Yes this is personal information but if it helps to shed some light on this subject then I'm not against it. We have had 4 litters of bunnies born since January, of those 6 were sold to pet or breeding homes for a total profit of $315.00, there's still one available who will probably be sold for $40 so let's round that up and say the years profit so far is $355.00 generously speaking. We typically go through two bags of feed a month at $19.95 per bag x 9 months equals $359.10, plus hay on top which we make our own so I can't really put a price on that. So as of right now we are just breaking even. We also purchased a new doe for $50.00 this spring so that brings the total up to $409.10. That doesn't count the costs to replace(we're not talking about all the initial investment) broken water bottles, feed dishes, toys, cage bottoms, cages, hay racks, medicine, deworming, grooming tools, or feed additives. This also doesn't cover the cost of showing them which is around $16 per rabbit per weekend, $8 to get the animal registered, $8 for a grand champion certificate, plus $200 for a hotel plus gas money plus food for  that weekend. We're also building a brand new barn for the bunnies this fall so that they have more room, are more comfortable in the winter months and better exercise pens - this I am expecting to cost around $2000.00. On top of that is the man hours that I do for free to clean them, cuddle them, feed them and basically look after them, are you seeing the point that I'm trying to make?

Why do you raise them then is what you would ask and I would answer with love. Love for the animals & the common love that many people have for them. I love taking the best care of my animals that I possibly can. As a couple that is unable to have children of our own, these animals get the care and attention that our kids would have received. That means making sure that if they are sick they get treated, they are on a regular deworming schedule, they have a proper cage for their size, their nails are trimmed monthly they get daily exercise & cuddles and that their feed & water requirements are being met. I raise them to produce animals that are as close to the standard of perfection as possible and that the animals I am raising will help the breed along both quality and temperament wise.

When we were located in Calgary we were inspected by the SPCA a number of years ago and they found no causes of concern with our set up, cleanliness or animals health. Health is a huge passion of mine and I work as a registered veterinary technologist so if one of our animals are sick it's as simple as bringing it into work with me in the morning. We are glad that there are people out there whose passion is to look after an animal that can't say it needs help itself. We have been raising these precious animals for 14 years now and have lived every minute of it with our animals from the joy of a new litter safety nestled in the box to what can only be described as heart ache when the time comes to say goodbye to a dear old friend to the countless hours spent cuddling and scrubbing their cages so that they are clean enough to eat off of. This is what being a breeder means to me, not the tiny amount of profit(before expenses) or the excitement of a best in show win but the joy of the animals themselves and all the fantastic friends that we have met along the way.

I know that this post is a little rough around the edges but it's because I'm passionate about rabbits in general from showing them to their health and love passing that on to others.

GC SLR's Tritan, 9th place "Top Lop" in the HLRSC in 2010

Bye for now,
Shannon

Currently Available Bunnies

It's getting close to fall so we are posting some of the for sale animals that are available for pet/brood animals. If you have any questions on these guys please send me an e-mail at starlitrabbitry@hotmail.com. It may take me a couple days to reply as we are making some cow food for the next week or so so I'm stuck in the tractor!

SLR's Olivia Black Junior Doe DOB Mar 14/14 Out of SLR's Thumper and SLR's Dream She's a bit on the shy side and will mature to around 4lbs. She would make a good brood doe or a pet for someone who doesn't mind a shy personality.

SLR's Dexter Torted Tri Junior Buck sibling to the black doe above(out of SLR's Thumper and SLR's Dream, DOB Mar 14/14) Yes our resident cutie is available to a new home! He just isn't getting big enough to compete with the big boys as I think he'll only mature around 3lbs, he's got plently of cuteness though and would make a great brood buck for those bigger does or a good pet as well.

SLR's UnNamed out of SLR's Chambler and SLR's Dream DOB June 11/14. This next bunch of photos are the bunnies that are currently available out of this litter. These guys still need to be tattooed and dewormed and then they will be available(sometime this week). These photos were taken in horrible lighting this morning so the quality's not the greatest but I wanted to get them done so here they are!

A Black/Orange Tri Junior Buck, A cute little guy who should mature in the 3-3.5lb mark, curious and friendly. Has a nice little body but is lacking width and bone, cute head and ear piece! Is available for pet. *SOLD*

A Charlie Orange Junior Doe, beautiful typey body that is super wide, does have some overall length to body but has great bone and a cute head/crown/ear. Is availabe for brood/pet. *SOLD*

A Charlie Black/Orange Tri Junior Buck, This guy is obviously SO ladi back - you can really do just about anything with him! Is available for brood/pet, will be a bigger boy at ~4lbs but will have a fantastic head and bone! * SOLD*

We also may have another charlie tri buck available(I haven't decided to keep him of not at the moment) and a SR tort buck who would be a brood bcuk only. Please also keep in mind that we are located close to Grande Prairie AB, so can deliver to GP but if you live in another area then the shipping/transport is something that you need to arrange. We do go to visit in Calgary but I'm not currently sure when we will be down there next. Rabbits must be paid for with a 50% nonrefundable deposit to hold.

New babies born this morning!

SLR's AnnaPrimRose - 2 legs kindled a litter of 5 babies earlier this morning. One big black kit was born DOA(dead on arrival), she's got two black peanuts, one healthy black bunny and one healthy harlequin colored bunny. We are super excited for this gals first litter and they are out of SLR's Thumper - 2 legs. Attached are some photos of proud mom & dad!

An available doe

Now is around the time we start going through our herd and deciding what we would like to keep around over the winter time. We also generally make two cuts when evaluating animals for their potential for show or breeding stock, one is that they look promising for one or the other so they get some more time to grow up and the other is after they are more mature for who gets included into the breeding program. That being said this little gal didn't make the second cut so she's looking for a new home. She's just not exactly what we are aiming for in our program so it's time for her to find a new person to love her.

Olivia's her name and she's a pretty affectionate doe but is a little on the shy side which is fairly typical of the gals. She was born on March 14/14 out of SLR's Thumper and SLR's Dream. If you think you may have the right home for this litter gal feel free to send me an e-mail at starlitrabbitry@hotmail.com

Available Bunnies

Our eldest litter here is a little over five weeks old and the other about three weeks. This means that some of these cutie will be available within a few weeks once they are weaned from Mom, tattooed and dewormed. Watch here for updates on when they will be looking for new homes!

Cutie Patootie T'fer Tigger

This is the new doe we picked up from Karleigh Friesen of Willow Hill Rabbitry - a big thanks to her for passing this little cutie on! Tigger's a black/orange harlequin out of almost solid campo lines and she's already been put into production kindling a litter of five out of SLR's Chambler. We were able to get some photos of her yesterday but she does look a little bit funny because of how much hair she plucked on her chest for her nest! Anyways she's a little cutie and we're excited to see how she'll cross with our lines!

More New Babies Born

We are excited to announce another litter that was born here on June 25 2014 out of SLR's Chambler and an outcross doe Cutie Patootie T'fer Tigger. She had five bunnies two of which were peanuts but the remaining three are doing wonderfully. She has a black/orange harlequin, a clean broken orange and a smutty broken orange. We'll post some photos of the mom, and some new ones of Chamber as soon as I am able to get out and take some photos.

We've also sexed our other litter of out SLR's Chambler and SLR's Dream - there's one black/orange tri buck, two black/orange charlie bucks, one charlie orange doe and one black/orange charlie doe. They are at that cute stage right now and are a hit with the neices and nephews.

We've also kept back this little harli buck from the litter out of SLR's Thumper and SLR's Dream and have decided to name him SLR's Cosmo. This guy is the pick of the litter type wise being just wide & solid with an adorable head/ear/crown piece. He may end up around the 4lb mark but we'll see when he's grown up! He is a VERY cute and sweet guy!

SLR's Dexter

This little cutie is the last buck to post out of our oldest upcoming litter. We're going to keep him back and show him this year to see how he does. He is a little guy right now so has some serious growing up to do before he'll compete with the big boys! He is on the light & long side for his bone but his overall type is good paired with a cute little apple head.

Want to know how to see our images in a larger version? Simply click on the photo and it will open them up in a larger window = )

The Black & Orange Harlequin JR bucks!

Here are photos of the two harlequin bucks in the litter. Both are fairly similar type wise and both I'm sure will mature to that 3.5 - 4lb mark. The first buck on here has nice clean bright orange and the second one is not as bright and clean color wise. Both are pretty upright bucks with good crowns and pretty little heads for their age.

Four down and just the last tri buck to post photos of! 

An available buck

This magpie buck is a super sweet guy looking for a great home! His attitude is SO laid back and friendly that he would make a great pet or brood buck. He'll mature around the 4lb mark and he's a little bit of a longer buck but does have a great shoulder on him. We don't breed magpies into our tri program as they are an unshowable color and we don't want to have the chin gene in our backgrounds so that makes this guy available!

One of the JR bucks at SLR

Here's one of the junior bucks that are upcoming here at SLR. It's perfect lighting today to be out and taking some photos however the wind is being not so nice to these boys with already moulting coats! So you'll have to pardon the blowing coats in both ways = )

Here's the broken black buck that Mom's laid claim to - we haven't had a broken black born here in many years which is Mom's favorite color. We'll post his name and some photos of him when he's older at a later date!

We are still in the process of getting photos of the other little dudes!

New spots at SLR!

We've had a new litter born on June 11/14 out of SLR's Chambler and an un named broken orange doe who is a daugher of Aiden. She had seven kits with two harlequins being DOA, one beautifully marked tri, three charlie tris and one charlie orange(?). We have so many solid does right now that I was hoping to get a charlie tri buck to keep back as a brood buck for some of these harli gals.

SLR's AnnaprimRose also had a litter about 12 hours before her sister however there was one peanut and two that were DOA. She'll be bred back to thumper for another try.

We're also working on posting photos of the last litter out of this broken orange doe and we should have those up by tomorrow = )

Here's the parents of the litter of five.

This is SLR's Chambler who goes back to SLR's Tonto and an outcross tri doe. I just adore this little buck and his now gret BIG head! This Jr photo doesn't do much for him now!

Obviously a very Jr photo of the mom!

Spring plans

We are down in Calgary visiting for the week and packing up most of the bunnies to take back up north for the "breeding months" We have also sexed our litter out of Thumper and the broken orange doe, there is a magpie buck, two black orange harli bucks, one broken black buck, and two black does. Most of the boys will be available once they get weaned and are eating solids well which will be another month yet. They will be heading back with us so will be available close to Grande Prairie and not Calgary. There will be nothing available for sale in the Calgary area until at least fall/early winter.

We also sent one doe with mom to the SARBA Chestermere show this past weekend. SLR's AnnaPrimRose placed 1st/8 and took a BOSV win in the solid senior doe class. She took two other 2/8 placings and sadly has a broken toe which DQ'd her from the fourth table. We still may send her out to a show or two to see if she can get those other two legs for GC papers but if not she'll make a fantastic brood doe. Our plans are to breed her this summer to SLR's Thumper our black buck with 2 GC legs. Anyways I will post some photos of the babies when they get older as they are in that ugly stage so it's a bad time to take photos! Hope all is well with everyone!

SLR's Zoro

Meet SLR's Zoro a just turned SR buck here who is out of SLR's Aiden, sire of Aiden is GC SLR's Tritan who was 9th Top Lop in 2010. This little guy was the pick of the litter born in fall and has really grown up nicely. He's super smooth with a beautiful head and bone to match.

Watch for some babies out of this guy in the summer!

A LARGE bunch of babies!

We had a HUGE second litter from one of our broken orange does that was born on Mar 14/14. She had a whopping 9 babies with two of them being peanuts that died. Color wise there looks to be one broken black, two black, one black & orange tri, two black & orange harlequins and one magpie. All the babies are doing really well under this mom's watchful eye! It's been at least 7 years since we've had a broken black born here(which is Mom's favorite color) so she has already laid the "it's mine" claim on this little one!

On the second note we are still sold out at the moment and will be until at least June. That being said 99% of the animals are sold in Beaverlodge not in Calgary as we usually sell animals during the spring, summer and fall which is where the herd in during those months. There are several other breeders that are within the Calgary area that usually will have stock available year round. We also operate on a first come first serve basis meaning that we usually don't do a waiting list, when something comes available it gets posted here and then it's sold that way.

Here's a photo of mom and dad of this newest litter!

SLR's Thumper who has 2 GC legs with one showing.

This is a baby photo of them mom who was born here last summer out of our harli buck SLR's Aiden and an outcross tri doe.